Almonds

This roasted red pepper and white bean dip is channeling a sunbaked Spanish afternoon where the only effort you’re prepared to expend is lifting your fork.

It’s tangy and flavourful and I for one will be making this again and again all season long ☀️

It comes together in just 5 minutes with almost zero effort…and you can do so much with it!

🥪 Spread it on a sandwich

🍕 Use it as the base for a pizza

🍝 Toss it with pasta

🥒 Use it as a dip for crackers, sliced veggies or chips

It’s the perfect anchor for a lazy afternoon meal – let hummus take the week off!

The recipe is up at www.desireerd.com or via the link in my bio 👋

#easyplantbasedrecipes #easyveganrecipes #vegansnacks #eatmoreplants #veganrecipes #plantbased #snackideas #summerrecipes ...

Sprouted grains for gut health? Here’s why (AD)

Figuring out little swaps and additions is one of my favourite dietitian tricks because it makes it easier to reach your goals.

So if you’re trying to build a healthier gut, consider swapping your usual sliced bread for @silverhillsbakery 100% sprouted grain bread. Here’s what you need to know:

🌾 Each slice of 100% sprouted grain bread contains 5 grams of fibre. We need 25-38 grams of fibre daily for a healthy gut. PRO TIP: if you’re new to fibre, start slow. Enjoy just one slice of bread daily, and when your digestion adjusts, then add another.

🌾 Sprouting appears to change the nature of the starches and gluten in whole wheat, which may be easier on sensitive tummies. In fact, some data from Monash University suggests that sprouting may reduce fructans (a FODMAP) in wheat.

🌾 Sprouting also unlocks certain nutrients in whole grains, helping to either A) improve bioavailability or B) increase the overall amount of nutrition. Sprouted grain breads are a great source of zinc, an important mineral for both gut cell metabolism and immune function, as well as antioxidants.

🌾 Celiac disease or allergies aside, whole grains are an incredible gut health food and @silverhillsbakery sprouted grain breads make it easy to enjoy them…and so does this delicious cinnamon sugar nut butter!!

Here’s how to make it:

Roast 1 cup each of pecans and cashews at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Then pop into a food processor for 5-7 minutes until a smooth, glossy butter forms. Stir in 1 tbsp cane sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp vanilla and ¼ tsp salt.

Full recipe at www.desireerd.com

#silverhillsbakery #sproutedgrains #plantbasednutrition #easyveganrecipes #wholegrains #toastrecipes #cinnamontoastcrunch ...

A lot of folks reduce their fruit and veg intake when their gut goes awry…but here’s why you want to rethink that (AD)

When issues like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis or irritable bowel syndrome crop up, it is not uncommon that folks start reducing their intake of fruits and veggies.

And I get it: when you have terrible gas, bloating or like 100 poops a day, you may naturally gravitate towards “easy to digest” foods.

The issue with this is that you deprive the gut – and the gut microbiome – of nutrient-dense plants with multiple gut boosting benefits, such as improving the gut microbiome, regulating digestion and helping to feed and reduce inflammation in the gut tissues.

So how can you enjoy fruits and veggies for gut health?

A few tips…

1️⃣ Constipated? In addition to eating more fibre-rich foods, focus on foods with poop-promoting compounds, like the actinidin in kiwis (2 a day!), or the naturally occuring sugar alcohols in mango, mushrooms or pears.

2️⃣ Things a little, um, loose? Try gentler options rich in soluble fibre like ripe banana, cooked apples, eggplant, okra, or oranges.

3️⃣ Very sensitive gut, like in IBD? One of our core practice tricks is to blend foods. So, enjoy a small smoothie (sip slowly!) instead of whole fruits and veggies. Or make a roasted vegetable soup or dip and eat small amounts to help you restore your tolerance over time.

Fruits and vegetables are sooooo good for you – I am so thankful to @halfyourplatecanada for partnering with me to help spread the word.

(And don’t forget the biggest gut booster of all: go get some 1:1 help from a gut dietitian!)

#halfyourplate #eatyourveggies #guthealth #guthealthmatters #guthealthdiet #guthealthdietitian #plantbasednutrition ...

This galette looks cute and is actually super doable.

You guys know me by now: I’m not much for “project” baking. Never made a croissant in my life. Pie dough? Makes me anxious.

But this? This rhubarb galette is a lot easier than you think. All you do is mix the dough in a food processor, chill it for an hour, roll and fold.

It’s effortlessly vegan (no one will guess) and as delicious on its own as it is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I used a blend of rye flour and AP for the dough, so it’s got plenty of flavour and I promise, you cannot mess it up.

Case in point: I accidently used too much water in making the reel and my dough was quite wet so I just dumped a bunch of flour on it and kneaded it in and it still turned out perfectly. No soggy bottoms in sight!

Also, I will never tire of putting cardamom in my desserts but I have to admit, the black pepper was a winning move.

I hope you love it!!! Make it this weekend…and all summer long. Recipe link in my profile 👋

#plantbasedrecipes #veganrecipes #plantbased #vegandesserts #rhubarbrecipes #rhubarb #galette ...

The asparagus salad of my dreams! 💭

I didn’t think I could love anything like I love a kale Caesar but this asparagus salad comes real close. It’s all about textures – crisp panko crumbs, crunchy almonds and tendercrisp asparagus – and layers of flavour…from the salty tang of fried capers to umami-packed breadcrumbs and a punchy garlic vinaigrette.

It’s my take on the delicious asparagus salad from the Six Seasons cookbook, one of my forever faves.

Yes, there are three separate steps. But they’re all super quick…so don’t let that deter you! The whole shebang comes together in like 20 minutes and I promise, you’ve never been more excited to eat asparagus.

Recipe link in my profile…I hope you love it!

#plantbasedrecipes #veganrecipes #asparagusseason #saladsofinstagram #vegansalads #saladrecipe ...

PSA: you don’t need to shoot ACV to fix your blood sugars.

I get it. We all love a low effort hack. But they don’t always work as advertised.

While some folks may make it seem like blood sugar response is predictable, it’s actually not. Your glycemic response to the same food can be different from day to day because of non-food factors like:

- stress
- sleep
- illness and pain
- menstrual cycles
- medications
- physical activity

Also, we rarely eat a single food at a time. When we pair carbohydrate-rich foods like pasta or potatoes with fibre, protein, or a bit of acid…say a lentil bolognaise…those factors slow down the rate at which blood sugars rise without needing to gulp down a bunch of vinegar.

⚠️I feel like it needs to be said: the way a food effects your blood sugars IS NOT the same as it’s healthfulness.

Case in point: butter has no carbs and therefore a lower glycemic load than nutrient-dense blueberries.

And yet when we’re looking at the strategically selected output from someone’s glucose monitor, seeing a flat curve vs a “spike” makes us think the opposite.

If you don’t have blood sugar issues, and are generally eating a lot of whole plant foods, you really don’t need to worry about your blood sugars.

Of course, if you do have diabetes or pre-diabetes, or you know your dietary pattern is predominantly hyper-processed and refined carbohydrates, a dietitian can help you take a sane (and evidence-based) approach to getting you blood sugars on track. And you can save the ACV for a nice kale Caesar salad.

PMID: 31221273 29686462

#bloodsugar #bloodsugarbalance #evidencebasednutrition #plantbasednutrition #vegannutrition #nutritionmyths #acv ...

Is that pricey probiotic working??? 💸

As a gut health dietitian, I’ve been working with probiotics for over a decade, so I have watched the conversation on probiotics go from skepticism to adoption back to skepticism.

Why so controversial? Well, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that talks a lot of science…but usually doesn’t offer products with actual human clinical trials to back them up. ⚠️

And there is a lot of back and forth in the research because unlike DHA or vitamin D, each strain – or combination of strains – of probiotics is totally unique. You can’t take the research from one strain and claim your strain works the same way.

Reviewing the research on probiotics is essentially comparing apples to oranges so in the systematic reviews and meta-analyses required to drive practice change, it leads to ‘heterogeneity’ that drives skepticism. And yet to say there is no research to support the use of probiotics is patently incorrect.

So…what does that mean for you? First things first: if you don’t have any gut issues, don’t go throwing a bunch of microbes in there for no reason.

If you have something going on, choose a probiotic with actual clinical trials (not just lab science) to show that it is useful in your condition. How to do that? Look it up on www.probioticchart.ca  

Then, give that probiotic 12 weeks to make an impact.

If things have improved even by 25%, give it another 12 weeks and re-assess.

But after 12 weeks, if nothing has changed, it might be that A) that product was incompatible with your own gut microbes B) what you have going on isn’t as strongly related to your gut microbiome or C) it was a crap product in a cute package with really good marketing.

Have you ever tried a probiotic and it didn’t work, or it made things worse?

#guthealth #gutmicrobiome #probiotics #guthealthdietitian #digestivehealth #guthealthnutrition ...